MOONWORT.

memory, and his surname Philadelphus, that is to say, Brotherly Love, serves to designate the genus of which there are four species in cultivation.

MOONWORT (Lunaria biennis).-FORGETFulness.

THIS plant has several names, which have been given to it on account of the broad round silvery silicles, which are moon-shaped. The film which presents this form retains its brilliancy, and has some resemblance to a piece of money, or to a cake called Oublie by the French. It is said that René, Duke of Bar and Lorraine, having been taken prisoner at the battle of Thoulongean, painted by his own hand a branch of Lunaria, and sent it to his people to reproach them for their tardiness in securing his freedom.

MOSS. MATERNAL LOVE.

LAPLAND mothers are said to wrap their infant offspring in ermine, and cradle them in moss. Nothing can form a softer couch, and when we think of ourselves as wearied in a pedestrian excursion, we fancy that a moss-covered bank, beneath an umbrageous tree, might be the luxury then most desirable. Wordsworth says,

"There is a fresh and lovely sight,

A beauteous heap, a hill of moss,

Just half a foot in height.

All lovely colours there you see,

THE MOSS ROSE.

All colours that were ever seen;
And mossy net-work too is there;
As if by hand of lady fair
The work had woven been;

And cups, the darlings of the eye,

So deep is their vermilion dye.

Ah me! what lovely tints are there!

Of olive-green and scarlet bright,

In spikes, and branches, and in stars,
Green, red, and pearly white!"

THE MOSS ROSE (Rosa muscosa).—LOVE.
VOLUPTUOUSNESS.

"The angel of the flowers, one day, beneath a Rose-tree sleeping lay; Awaking from his light repose, the angel whispered to the Rose, 'O fondest object of my care, still fairest found, where all is fair; For the sweet shade thou giv'st to me, ask what thou wilt, 'tis granted thee!'

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'Then,' said the Rose, with deepened glow, on me another grace bestow.'

The spirit paused in silent thought :-What grace was there the flower had not?

'Twas but a moment-o'er the Rose a veil of moss the angel throws ; And robed in nature's simplest weed, could there a flower that Rose exceed."-From the German.

ON seeing the Moss Rose-the rose without a thorn-and its flower surrounded by a soft and pleasing verdure, one has said that Voluptuousness wished to dispute with Love for this beautiful flower. Madame de Genlis says, that, on her return from England, it was at her house where all Paris went to see the first rose of this kind. That lady was then cele

MUGWORT.

brated, and it is supposed that to see the Moss Rose, was nothing but a pretext with the crowd to force themselves into her society.

MUGWORT (Artemisia vulgaris.)—HAPPINESS.

THIS species of Wormwood is said to be used in some parts of Sweden in the place of hops, so as to render beer more stimulating. It was at one time supposed to possess valuable properties, able to relieve persons suffering from maladies, the removal of which tended to restore them to their usual state of health, and thus endow them with as much of happiness as is allotted to mortals.

MUSHROOM (Agaricus campestris).—SUSPICION.

THERE are several species of Mushroom which are a deadly poison. The Ostiaks of Siberia, make of some of them a preparation which causes the death of the strongest man in twelve hours. Many in our climate are also dangerous; and there are those which contain a fluid so acrid, that a single drop put upon the tongue raises a blister. Yet the Russians, during their long Lent, sustain themselves chiefly on Mushrooms, and we ourselves regard the species named at the head of this article, dressed in various ways, as a choice delicacy. Nevertheless we cannot safely lay aside Suspicion in considering the character of those submitted to us, before

MOSCHATEL.

making use of them, lest we should unwittingly partake of such as would produce injurious effects, though it might be short of death.

MOSCHATEL (Adoxa Moschatellina).—WEAKNESS.

THIS plant, commonly called the Musk Plant, has early in the morning and in the evening a musky odour, which, even to persons who dislike musk, is pleasant. It is general all over Europe, delighting in woods; but, as its generic name implies, it is without note.

MUSK ROSE (Rosa moschata).-CAPRICIOUS BEAUTY.

THE small flowers of this Rose would be wanting in effect but that they grow in panicles. Their fine musky fragrance also renders them pleasing. The plant is, however, very capricious, so to say; for all at once it droops in situations which at first appeared most favourable. One year it is laden with innumerable bouquets of flowers; the following it may have no bloom at all.

THE MYROBALAN (Prunus cerasifera).—BEREAVEMENT.

THIS tree is like the plum-tree, bearing white flowers in April and May, and offering to us a fruit which resembles in form and colour a very beautiful cherry. This contains nothing but an insipid and disagreeable juice; so that even birds reject that which we would leave to them.

MYRTLE.

MYRTLE (Myrtus communis).—Love.

"The Myrtle bough bids lovers live.”—WALTer Scott.

THE oak has ever been dedicated to Jupiter; the laurel to Apollo; the olive to Minerva; and the Myrtle to Venus. Perpetual verdure, supple branches laden with fragrant flowers, which seem destined to adorn the brow of Love, has procured for the Myrtle the honour of being the tree of Venus. The chief temple of that goddess at Rome was surrounded by a myrtle grove. In Greece she was worshipped under the name of Myrtea. When she rose from the foam of the sea she was presented with a wreath of Myrtle. She was crowned with Myrtle by the Cupids. Being surprised by a band of Satyrs on coming out of her bath, she took refuge behind a Myrtle bush. It was with a branch of this tree that she chastised the audacious Psyche, who compared her own fleeting beauty to the immortal loveliness of the goddess. Subsequently the garland of Love has sometimes decorated the warrior's brow. After the rape of the Sabines, the Romans crowned themselves with Myrtle in honour of Venus victrix. The Myrtle crown then shared the privilege of the Laurel, and shone upon the head of the successful warrior in his triumph.

Though the Triumphs of ancient Rome have passed away, Roman ladies retain a taste for this pretty shrub. It is said that they prefer its fragrance to the most precious essences, and that they mix with their baths water distilled with its leaves, under the idea that the tree of Venus bestows